Just as with most activities in life, the more you practice something, the easier it gets.

Critical thinking can be practiced all through the day.

All of the skills of critical thinking can be improved by using them more often.

Here are some quick and simple ways to practice critical thinking throughout your day.

Cause and Effect

Observe things that happen around you. Think about what caused those happenings and how they would change if the cause was different.

Denotation and Connotation

Read and listen carefully to the words people say and write. Think of different words that can have literal and figurative meanings. Think of words that have positive connotations and negative connotations.

Making Complex Inferences

Pretend you are a detective. Look for clues around you that can lead you to making inferences. Try to make inferences about what kind of day your friends have had.

Synthesizing

Try to take different pieces of information together and imagine what the result would be. For example, you can imagine an Olympic runner trying to workout in Alaska during a snowstorm with a famous singer, or think about what would happen if your two favorite TV shows or movies were combined into one. What would that be like?

Comparing and Contrasting

The world is filled with things that can be compared and contrasted. Look for examples around you that are different but try to find ways that they are also similar. Then find examples of things that are similar and try to find ways they are different.

Drawing Conclusions

Put on your detective hat again. Look at pieces of information around you and try to conclude what they mean. What conclusions can you make about what you see?

Summarizing

Try taking something you hear or read and putting it in your own words. Maybe this can be a story from a friend or a lesson from a teacher. Challenge yourself to summarize quickly in your head.

Identifying Problems and Solutions

Observe events around you through the lens of a problem or a solution. How can something you see be a problem? Who would it be a problem for? Why would it be a problem? If it is a problem, what could be a possible solution?

Analyzing

Be a scientist. Look around you and try to break things down to their smallest parts. Think about how things work together to make a larger whole. Think of words that can be broken down into smaller words. Try to figure out how things around you work. How do things work?

Questioning

Question everything. Question what you are thinking. Question different possibilities to different situations. Question what came before or what will follow. Question how your brain is working.

By practicing these skills frequently, they will become permanent tools in your tool belt that will help you throughout life. Your reading comprehension is only one area that critical thinking can help.

The more that you think critically, the smarter you will become!

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